Michael Vaughan yesterday apologised to Zaheer Khan for the jelly-bean incident on the third evening of the second Test which India won by seven wickets yesterday. England's coach, Peter Moores, also conceded that his side's conduct during the defeat had "got out of hand".

Vaughan's public apology was his second in less than two months after his claim that he had been misquoted by the Guardian in an interview in June.

The England captain was yesterday asked to explain why, on Sunday, his players decided to use confectionery to rile Zaheer, who went on to take five second-innings wickets and claim the man-of-the-match award.

"The guys on the pitch eat jelly beans, jelly babies and chewing gum," he said. "Two jelly beans were left by the stumps at the drink interval. I guess one of the players might have done it as a prank for the new batsman. If it offended Zaheer in a huge way then we apologise for that, but there were no jelly beans thrown from the slip cordon. I don't think it provided him with any extra motivation. We did not lose this game because of a few jelly beans."

Moores also admitted that the incident had taken gamesmanship too far. "It got out of hand," he said. "Everyone has learned something from it and hopefully we won't see it again. At the end of the day it is one of those incidents we would like to forget because it is clouding what was a very good Test match."

England's show of contrition came as Ranjan Madugalle, the International Cricket Council match referee, reminded the captains of their responsibilities after a Test that has featured sledging, a potentially lethal beamer, a possibly deliberate no-ball, and a fine for the Indian fast bowler Sreesanth, who lost half his match fee for aggressively brushing past Vaughan.

"The important thing is that the captains have got to remember they are responsible for the behaviour of their side," said Madugalle. "I have had a chat with the two teams and I will be having a chat with them before the next game."

Rahul Dravid, who led India to only their fifth victory in 47 Tests in England stretching back to 1932, claimed the jelly-beans jape had backfired on England and grinned as he thanked their fielders for winding up his star bowler. "I'm more than happy if Zaheer gets upset," he said. "I've never seen him so fired up."

Talk also centred on the no-ball by Sreesanth to Paul Collingwood on Monday afternoon when he overstepped from around the wicket by at least two feet. Vaughan said: "I hope to God he didn't bowl it to intimidate the batsman, because it's a tactic which we really don't want to see in the game." Dravid claimed the no-ball was an accident but added that the matter would be dealt with internally.

The no-ball typified the way in which the entire Test trod the finest of lines between gamesmanship and genuine bad blood, but Vaughan, who must now lead his side to victory next week at The Oval to prevent England from losing a home series for the first time since the 2001 Ashes, defended his side's general approach.

"I don't think we've stepped over the line. Maybe we said a bit too much in the first innings, but it's just gamesmanship. I don't think we've said anything untoward. We're just trying to play good cricket. It's what most teams in the world do when they play each other. These two games have been proper Test cricket, where you know you've been in a battle."

Dravid said he was aware of his responsibilities as captain, and added: "We've got to make sure it doesn't cross the line." The third Test is going to be in the spotlight in more ways than one.

The apology files

Vaughan on June 11

'I was embarrassed to deny saying something, then it was proved that I had - and I'm sorry for that - but I'm really pleased with the way the team fought.'

After originally claiming he had been misquoted about Andrew Flintoff in a Guardian interview

Vaughan on July 31

'If it offended Zaheer in a huge way then we apologise for that, but there were no jelly beans thrown from the slip cordon. We did not lose this game because of a few jelly beans.'

After the leaving of sweets on the pitch by an England player riled India's Zaheer Khan